A former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, has criticised comments attributed to Sheikh Yahaya Jingir suggesting that support for a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket demonstrates the numerical superiority of Muslims over Christians in Nigeria.

Dalung warned that reducing political leadership to a contest over religious population could push the country towards what he described as “dangerous religious majoritarianism.”

He made the remarks in a statement posted on his verified Facebook page.

The comments followed a viral video in which Jingir reportedly urged Muslims to continue supporting the Muslim-Muslim ticket and allegedly said they should “show infidels their limit.”

Naija News reports that Sheikh Jingir, who was preaching to Muslims at an event, said: “If you don’t want to accept a Muslim-Muslim ticket, you should leave Nigeria because it belongs to us”.

The event was reportedly attended by some All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, including Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf and his Jigawa State counterpart, Umar Namadi.

Dalung said Nigeria’s political and socioeconomic challenges could not be solved by determining which religious group had more followers.

According to him, the country should not be treated as a prize to be controlled by whichever faith claims numerical superiority.

He argued that the religious identity of a political ticket did not automatically improve the living conditions of ordinary Nigerians.

Dalung said a Muslim-Muslim ticket would not, by itself, provide food, create employment, improve infrastructure or protect communities from kidnapping and other forms of insecurity.

He added that it would also not automatically improve education, healthcare, electricity supply or the affordability of fuel and basic necessities.

The former minister expressed particular concern over language suggesting that some Nigerians should be treated as religious outsiders.

He questioned who Nigerians were expected to regard as “infidels” in a country where citizens of different faiths have historically supported candidates across religious lines.

Dalung noted that Christians had voted for Muslim candidates, while many Muslims had also rejected politics based primarily on religious identity.

He said millions of Nigerians were more concerned about competent leadership than the faith professed by political officeholders.

According to him, once political competition becomes centred on which religion has the greater population, democracy risks being reduced to “religious arithmetic.”

Dalung maintained that supporters of any presidential arrangement, including a Muslim-Muslim ticket, should defend it on measurable governance outcomes.

He listed security, economic development, justice, competence and good governance as the proper standards for evaluating political leadership.

The former minister rejected the idea that religious identity should determine entitlement to political power or make citizens of another faith feel subordinate.

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